Dead horse at Aintree today

poiuytrewq said:
Honestly the few yards I worked at the jockeys were told get them round safely and pull up if any thing go’s wrong. Not to risk them.
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I would love to think that is the view of the majority of racing yards, but sadly I don't think it is or we definitely wouldn't have seen what happened yesterday. The jockey would have had to be a rank amateur rider to have not known immediately after the slip that the horse he was riding wasn't right.
 
Ambers Echo said:
That's true but humans gonna human. Welfare agencies can and should protect horses so much better than they do.

And perhaps cultural attitudes might shift if change came from the top. I am sure child labour law reforms were seen as ludicrous woke pandering at the time.
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Nobody is saying that there isn't more than could and should be done by (people in) various stakeholder organisations.

But the welfare of the horses involved is the responsibility of all the people involved.

Much like H&S in a workplace, systems and laws will only get you so far. Culture is the thing that really transforms attitudes and outcomes when it comes to safety in these kind of high-pressure, split-second decision type environments.
 
HJJ said:
I've never been into racing, but have watched nearly every National over the last 45 years, as it was a family tradition when I was a kid, and it kind of stuck with me.

Over the last few years I have begun to question my morals, and increasingly, racing (flat and jump) has been sitting less and less well with me. This poor horse yesterday is the final nail. After seeing the clip and photos of GD earlier on this thread, which are heartbreaking, I can't watch anymore, so last year's National is the last race I'll ever see.
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I am exactly the same. That terrible photograph. Increasingly the sight of the beautiful, generous, intelligent animals being driven to the limit of their physical capabilities, exploited and slaughtered for the enjoyment of homo sapiens (whose self administered species name is in itself an ego trip) makes me feel ill.
 
Mrs Jingle said:
I would love to think that is the view of the majority of racing yards, but sadly I don't think it is or we definitely wouldn't have seen what happened yesterday. The jockey would have had to be a rank amateur rider to have not known immediately after the slip that the horse he was riding wasn't right.
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And weirdly I feel like if he was a rank amateur he would probably have been sanctioned!
 
I used to really love racing, grew up wanting to be a jockey ( I wrote to jim'll fix it to ask to ride round the grand national fences lol), did my work experience in a top 2 year old trainers yard but now can't bear to even watch it.
I can't listen to another person parrot the "treated like kings" line, they are stuck in a 12×12 ft box for most of their day only allowed out for an hour or so of exercise, yes they have a nutritionalist ( who feeds them stuff that actually isn't good for them but is good short term to fuel them for racing) yes they have gleaming coats ( is thorough grooming and trimming etc the horses equivalent of a spa day? I think not), they don't socialise, they don't roam, they aren't free to express them selves, this sounds more like being treated like a prisoner than a king.
So much has been said about them being started too young ( owners don't want to and won't risk their investment getting injured in a field before it even makes it to a racecourse) yet we don't seem any closer to making this simple welfare change.
Why are horses now breaking their legs on the flat / in between fences, are we breeding such bad horses that they can't physically stand up to the task they are bred for? It does seem like that but hey ho they only need to cope for a few years then it doesn't matter so if we lose some along the way then there's plenty more out there to try again with.
On that plenty more theme, wastage in racing is disgusting. 30 plus years ago my parents bought me my first horse of my own, she was 2.5k ( not massively expensive but appropriate for a decent riding club horse), back then TBs had value, people appreciated them, they were revered sports horses. Now ex racers are 10 a penny, people can afford to buy them but the vet bills needed to keep them going stop many from doing it, that never used to be the case, are so many more coming out of racing broken or do they start that way through mass indiscriminate and poor breeding?
I still believe that lots of horses love to run and many racehorses actually enjoy their days out racing, I also believe that is totally abused by greedy humans. I don't know what it would take to fix racing, there are many welfare visits to yards but there's still so many horror stories, it's just all heartbreaking 😥
 
The welfare committee assessment press release and jockey testimonial actually prove moreso the sport should be banned.
If they are saying it IS possible to be riding a horse with a broken back, and it’s ok to not know, then baseline legal equine welfare laws demands the sport not continue.

They cannot be pushing the horse to its physical limits and be ok with not knowing if that animal is in pain, that’s against equine welfare laws.

Or are the owners, trainers, jockeys and punters all okay with horses being used that are in pain, and there’s no way to know until it’s galloped it’s heart out for 9 minutes?


At the very least, to at least appear to give a crap about horses, all jockeys need an ear-piece to be told ‘stop!’ by trained independent equine health and welfare assessors. And I mean independent in every sense of the word. Not someone who can be in the pocket of the owners, trainers or venue.

How barbaric to allow a horse that splat stumbled after a fence, having already jumped 12+ fences, after 9 minutes of flat-out galloping, to regain its feet and carry on.
 
bonny said:
What on earth does that mean !
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Its means that the vast majority of people find this sickening. And most of those found your comments and attitude sickening. The first comment was shocking, but you have continued to double down on the attitude shown. To most reading it shows you in a very, very bad light.

You are absolutely entitled to feel like that and to say it. But people will respond negatively when its such an emotive topic.
 
PurBee said:
At the very least, to at least appear to give a crap about horses, all jockeys need an ear-piece to be told ‘stop!’ by trained independent equine health and welfare assessors. And I mean independent in every sense of the word. Not someone who can be in the pocket of the owners, trainers or venue.
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I was actually just thinking this and wondering if the horses could also wear heart rate monitors and jockeys be told to pull up by mandatory independent officials when they see necessary. But then I wondered wether that might open up a can of worms behind the scenes in training etc

I love seeing the thoroughbreds run. It’s an amazing sight but the death rate is completely unacceptable. Horse welfare should absolutely be top priority but we all know that won’t happen. If we’ll exploit humans in the name of sport we’ll exploit anyone.
 
I'm Dun said:
Its means that the vast majority of people find this sickening. And most of those found your comments and attitude sickening. The first comment was shocking, but you have continued to double down on the attitude shown. To most reading it shows you in a very, very bad light.

You are absolutely entitled to feel like that and to say it. But people will respond negatively when its such an emotive topic.
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Well said
 
Dopeydapple said:
I used to really love racing, grew up wanting to be a jockey ( I wrote to jim'll fix it to ask to ride round the grand national fences lol), did my work experience in a top 2 year old trainers yard but now can't bear to even watch it.
I can't listen to another person parrot the "treated like kings" line, they are stuck in a 12×12 ft box for most of their day only allowed out for an hour or so of exercise, yes they have a nutritionalist ( who feeds them stuff that actually isn't good for them but is good short term to fuel them for racing) yes they have gleaming coats ( is thorough grooming and trimming etc the horses equivalent of a spa day? I think not), they don't socialise, they don't roam, they aren't free to express them selves, this sounds more like being treated like a prisoner than a king.
So much has been said about them being started too young ( owners don't want to and won't risk their investment getting injured in a field before it even makes it to a racecourse) yet we don't seem any closer to making this simple welfare change.
Why are horses now breaking their legs on the flat / in between fences, are we breeding such bad horses that they can't physically stand up to the task they are bred for? It does seem like that but hey ho they only need to cope for a few years then it doesn't matter so if we lose some along the way then there's plenty more out there to try again with.
On that plenty more theme, wastage in racing is disgusting. 30 plus years ago my parents bought me my first horse of my own, she was 2.5k ( not massively expensive but appropriate for a decent riding club horse), back then TBs had value, people appreciated them, they were revered sports horses. Now ex racers are 10 a penny, people can afford to buy them but the vet bills needed to keep them going stop many from doing it, that never used to be the case, are so many more coming out of racing broken or do they start that way through mass indiscriminate and poor breeding?
I still believe that lots of horses love to run and many racehorses actually enjoy their days out racing, I also believe that is totally abused by greedy humans. I don't know what it would take to fix racing, there are many welfare visits to yards but there's still so many horror stories, it's just all heartbreaking 😥
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I think low value TB's have never been treated well. The H&H used to print auction results and there would always be a few that went for £500. A friend who helped out at sales at the yearling sales the leftovers would be left, not worth transporting home, the Jockey Club does discount rates for horse 'disposal'.

Anyone who thinks flat racing is not tough on the horse ought to think at what age they start being treated like an adult horse. The official birthday is the January 1st, so the a two year old that is expected to race could be a lot younger than two, and kept in a box 23hrs day, no turnout, no socialisation. I can watch them coming back from the gallops, and some of them look no better ridden than the animals at Appleby fair which everyone is appalled at, and some do not look much better.
You go to the sales and it literally is a shop window, very smart, but often where they live is a small yard, the only thing you can say as a positive is it is usually very well swept. I am not saying that the trainers do not look after their horses but its the equine equivalent of a sweat shop, and owners will dump a horse, the knacker man is perhaps the best end. It's a system that depends on turnover because everyone wants the next winner.
 
honetpot said:
I think low value TB's have never been treated well. The H&H used to print auction results and there would always be a few that went for £500. A friend who helped out at sales at the yearling sales the leftovers would be left, not worth transporting home, the Jockey Club does discount rates for horse 'disposal'.

Anyone who thinks flat racing is not tough on the horse ought to think at what age they start being treated like an adult horse. The official birthday is the January 1st, so the a two year old that is expected to race could be a lot younger than two, and kept in a box 23hrs day, no turnout, no socialisation. I can watch them coming back from the gallops, and some of them look no better ridden than the animals at Appleby fair which everyone is appalled at, and some do not look much better.
You go to the sales and it literally is a shop window, very smart, but often where they live is a small yard, the only thing you can say as a positive is it is usually very well swept. I am not saying that the trainers do not look after their horses but its the equine equivalent of a sweat shop, and owners will dump a horse, the knacker man is perhaps the best end. It's a system that depends on turnover because everyone wants the next winner.
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I didn’t realise until recently quite how many that are too slow on flat here and go through the sales at Newmarket get shipped to the Middle East. On the basis that I sort of presumed with the ££ they’d only want the quick ones
 
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